


The Greastest Regret

by DancerinDarkness



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Angst, In which we find out about Nero's mother, Lost Love, Or at least an attempt of it, Regret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22628053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancerinDarkness/pseuds/DancerinDarkness
Summary: As the twins are trapped in the Demon World, Dante finds out one of Vergil's greatest regrets during his separation from him.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 49





	The Greastest Regret

**Author's Note:**

> Dan Southworth said that Nero's mother was someone Vergil really had to care about, so I took that idea and went with it. I hope we get to see that in a future game/content. For now, enjoy what I've thrown together. May or may not continue, but here's what I've got.

They had lost track of how long they had been here; the endless cycle of killing demons seemed to make time both fly by and crawl to a snail’s pace all at once. But for as much as slaughtering demons passed the time well enough, it was inevitable that repeating the same task for so long would grow tedious. Even Dante’s quips failed to get a rise out of Vergil half the time.

Still, not every word passed to his brother was meant to instigate him; when they weren’t fighting, Dante would often try to pry some information about what happened during Vergil’s very long separation from him. For as much as a pain in the ass he was, he was still his brother, after all. Particularly, he often asked about who the lucky girl was that mothered Nero. Vergil usually gave vague answers to Dante’s questions, but when it came to Nero’s mother, he was completely silent, as though he were pretending he didn’t hear what his brother said. Occasionally, he would simply repeat that it was a long time ago, and leave it at that. Otherwise, there was nothing more that would be revealed. Not that it stopped Dante from trying.

But Dante’s questions would soon be answered when they encountered a particularly powerful demon, its form almost human, but still had the unmistakably repulsive appearance of a denizen of the Demon World.

“Finally,” Dante said, “an actual challenge.”

But while this demon was marginally stronger than the lesser demons the twins constantly battled, it was not long until it was brought to its knees. And yet, it seemed unusually calm as it was left on its last legs.

“Not bad,” he said. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected less from the sons of Sparda. Which is why I’m going to reward you.” He tossed a tiny object towards Vergil, a faint metallic sound clattering against the ground before coming to a stop.

“What’s this?” Dante asked as he kneeled down to get a better look. It was a silver ring with a blue gem shimmering in its center. When it was fully in its sight, Vergil swiftly picked it up, his eyes burning with rage.

“Why do you have this?” he demanded.

“So you do remember… I would have saved her finger along with it, but sadly, hardly any of it was left when I cut it off.”

“Verge,” Dante said, “this guy… did he-“

“Did I kill the one he promised to protect? The one who put all her trust in him to keep her safe and give her the life she always dreamed of when he was strong enough? The one who promised to shelter both her and her child? Very perceptive.” Vergil shouted in fury and charged at the demon, only to swiftly be knocked to the ground before he could even hit him.

“Verge!”

“I would have sent you this gift a long time ago, but Mundus wouldn’t let any of us play with you. But now it seems fate has finally brought me to you.” Vergil grunted as he stood to his feet, catching his breath as he regained his balance. “Her face was so full of fear when I had her in my grasp. Would you like to hear her last words?”

Before Vergil could answer, a blood curdling wail rang through the air, making Dante instinctively cover his ears, but the sound remained crystal clear.

_“Vergil! Please, where are you?! Vergil!”_

When the voice stopped, Dante looked over and saw his brother on his knees, his body ever so slightly shaking.

“She put her faith in you to the very end. How sad that you weren’t there for her when she needed you most. What do you think was going through her mind when she realized the man she loved broke his promise to her?” Once again, Vergil ran towards the demon, unable to even prepare an attack before his head hit the ground, this time causing his bottom lip to split open. “My only regret is that I couldn’t reach your son. But it seems things worked out for me in the end after all.” Vergil used all of his strength to stand on his feet again, the simple action causing him to struggle.

“Take a breather,” Dante said as he placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let me handle it for now.”

“I’m killing this bastard, Dante,” Vergil hissed, “I’m going to make him suffer.”

“So much wrath you hold,” the demon taunted as a bright orange aura surrounded him. “I wonder: did she think you no longer loved her when you failed to save her?” Dante had to use nearly all of his strength to hold his brother back from charging again.

“I’m not losing you again!” Dante said as Vergil struggled in his grasp. “You going after him now is suicide! Just calm down for two seconds!”

“Let me go, damn it!” Vergil said as he shoved his elbow into Dante’s ribs. It nearly gave him a chance to escape, but Dante wasn’t about to relent.

Suddenly the demon lunged towards the twins. Dante quickly pulled his brother away right before the two of them got hit.

“Verge, I know you’ve got a beef with this guy, and I don’t blame you for a second. But I’m not about to let you die here. I’ll knock you out if I have to, but I’d rather have you here to help me kill this jackass.” Vergil sighed, but reluctantly heeded his brother’s words and resisted the urge to mindlessly charge towards the demon whenever it taunted him.

_“Please don’t go… not until our child’s born.”_

_“I need to become stronger to protect the both of you.”_

When Vergil regained most of his strength, he lunged towards the demon’s side while Dante clashed his sword against his opponent’s front.

_“When I return, I’ll take you far away from here. We’ll live a peaceful life. I promise.”_

Every taunt that the demon released, every reminder of how Vergil failed her, made rage boil in his veins. But he withheld it, even as it was so close to bubbling to the surface, determined to be the one avenge her.

_“After I return, we’ll never be parted again.”_

Finally, the demon fell to the ground, not even having the strength to stand up. Vergil clutched his blade in his hand as he approached him, his eyes filled with pure hatred.

“Satisfied yet?” the demon chocked out, a condescending grin still on his face even in his last moments. “I do wish you could have been there to see her when she died; it's something you need to be there for to fully appreciate.”

Vergil roared out in rage before stabbing Yamato into the demon’s chest. Several more times he plunged his bade, blood flying in all directions and sticking to his face and clothes. He barely even registered his futile attacks, only focusing on brutalizing his foe as much as possible, finally allowing his fury to overflow.

After several minutes, when he exhausted all of his strength, he finally stopped, panting as he let the demon dissolve into ash. By now so much blood had been expelled that a few drops had lingered in his hair, and the entirety of his blade was stained crimson. Slowly, Dante approached him, reaching his hand out to touch his shoulder.

“Don’t you see?” Vergil finally said before Dante could touch him. “I can’t protect anyone. I couldn’t protect our mother, and I couldn’t protect her. I promised I wouldn’t let another die because of me, and I failed her. I left her completely helpless, and she died while calling out my name.” Dante watched as a single tear fell to the ground. “It’s why I abandoned my son… why I let another family take him from me… how could I have protected him if I couldn’t protect his mother?” He pulled the ring from his breast pocket before clutching it in his hand. “She trusted me so much, even though she had known me for such a short time… and I was foolish enough to return her affections for me, foolish enough to give her hope for a bright future… if only I had pushed her away from me when I could, she would still be here…”

Dante crouched down next to his brother; even as he poured his heart out, Vergil was still fighting back his tears.

“You know, your son’s a pretty great guy,” Dante said. “It would be a damn shame to live in a world without him.” Vergil said nothing, but slightly loosened his fist. “Whoever she was, she was probably quite a catch if she found you. I think Nero would like to know more about her; I know I would.”

“Yes… she was… I suppose Nero deserves to know the truth about her…” Vergil placed the ring back into his coat before standing to his feet again.

“Well, you can tell him all about it when we get back.”

_“When I’m gone, I’ll think of you always until I return.”_


End file.
